Apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard comprises the front cover being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin at the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, a first revolving member being secured to the front cover with its axis in parallel relation with the hinged pin, a second revolving member being secured to the grinding wheel guard with its axis in parallel relation to the hinged pin, and an adjusting screw having a flange biased against one of the first and second revolving members and being connected to the other of the first and second revolving members and to a handle. The first revolving member is connected to the front cover for limited relative rotation with respect thereto by a pin and slot arrangement, whereby upon movement of the first revolving member in the axial direction of the adjusting screw, the front cover is turned either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

United States Patent Oshima et al.

APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE POSITION OF A FRONT COVER FOR A GRINDING WHEEL GUARD Susumu Oshima, Okazaki; Hidetoshi Takahashi, Kariya, both of Japan Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha Kariya-shi, Aichi-Pref, Japan Appl. No.: 267,080

Inventors:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data July 29, 1971 Japan 46-56903 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1970 Backer et al 51/269 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 10/1903 Great Britain 51/268 1 1 Sept. 17, 1974 186.614 9/1936 Germany ..5l/272 191.765 3/1937 Germany ..5l/272 Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Nicholas P. Godici Attorney. Agent, or FirmOblon, Fisher, Spivak, McClelland & Maier 5 7 ABSTRACT An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard comprises the front cover being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin at the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, a first revolving member being secured to the front cover with its axis in parallel relation with the hinged pin, a second revolving member being secured to the grinding wheel guard with its axis in parallel relation to the hinged pin, and an adjusting screw having a flange biased against one of the first and second revolving members and being connected to the other of the first and second revolving members and to a handle. The first revolving member is connected to the front cover for limited relative rotation with respect thereto by a pin and slot arrangement, whereby upon movement of the first revolving member in the axial direction of the adjusting screw, the front cover is turned either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEF I 7 I974 sum 1 or 2 FIG.

FIG.4

minnow: 11914 sum 2 or 2 FIG. 2

8 M O O FIG.3

APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE POSITION OF A FRONT COVER FOR A GRINDING WHEEL GUARD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to grinding wheel guards and more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard according to any decrease occurring in the diameter of the grinding wheel.

2. Description of the Prior Art Conventionally, front covers of grinding wheel guards are usually pivotally mounted to the upper edge of the grinding wheel guard, and are generally frictionally clamped directly to the grinding wheel guard by bolts or similar clamping devices. Accordingly, when the diameter of a grinding wheel is decreased through wear accompanying use, the bolts must be loosened with an appropriate tool, such as a spanner, whereupon the gap between the front cover and the grinding wheel may be adjusted, while manually holding the front cover, so as not to permit contact between the front cover and the rotating grinding wheel through rotary movement of the front cover being caused by the dead weight thereof, and then the bolts are again clamped to fix the front cover to the grinding wheel guard in its adjusted position. The adjustment of grinding wheel guard front covers has therefore been a troublesome procedure in the past.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard.

Another object of the presnet invention is to provide an improved apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard which is simple to operate, yet provides safety to the operator even from flying pieces of a broken grinding wheel.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved by an apparatus constructed according to the present invention so as to permit adjusting the front cover of a grinding wheel guard merely by screwing an adjusting screw provided between first and second revolving means which are respectively pivotally mounted to the front cover and to the grinding wheel guard, whereby the adjustment of the position of the front cover is easily and safely given to completely prevent the opening of the front cover by broken pieces of the grinding wheel when the grinding wheel is broken.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view, partly in cross-section, of an apparatus for adjusting the position of a frontcover of a grinding wheel guard constructed according to this invention:

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged sectional view taken along the line IlIIII in FIG. I; and

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged sectional view taken along the line lV-IV in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, a grinding wheel guard 2 is mounted on a grinder base, not shown, so as to cover the upper and lower parts, the rear part and one side part of a grinding wheel 1.

A side cover 3 is provided on the grinding wheel guard 2 so as to cover the other side part of the grinding wheel 1. A front cover 4 for the grinding wheel guard is pivotally mounted through a hinged pin 5 to the upper front part of the grinding wheel guard 2 so as to cover the front part of the grinding wheel 1. A holder 7 is fixed to a side face of the front cover 4 and a first revolving member 6 is axially held by the holder 7 in parallel relation to the hinged pin 5.

A holder 9 is fixed to the side cover 3 of the grinding wheel guard and a second revolving member 8 is axially held thereto also in parallel relation to the hinged pin 5. One end of an elongate adjusting screw 10 is screwed to the second revolving member 8 passing through and crossing the axis of rotation of the second revolving member. A flange 10a is formed on the center of the adjusting screw 10 and the other end is fitted into the hollow center of a handle shaft 11 so as to be axially slidable therein. A spring 12 is compressed in the hollow center of the handle shaft between the handle shaft 11 and the end of the adjusting screw 10 and a pin 13 projecting radially from the end of the adjusting screw 10 disposed in the handle shaft 11 is connected to an elongate longitudinally extending hole 11b provided in the peripheral wall of the handle shaft 11, as shown in FIG. 2, so as to transmit the rotation of the handle shaft 11 to the adjusting screw 10. Thus, while the handle shaft and adjusting screw are relatively axially movable, they are non-rotatably movable with respect to each other about their common axis.

A flange is formed on the end of the handle shaft 11 receiving the adjusting screw 10, and a handle 14 is fixed to the opposite end of the handle shaft. The first revolving member 6 has a first groove 60 having a pair of faced planes arranged in parallel relation to the hinged pin 5 and a pair of second grooves 6a and 6b perpendicular to the faced planes of the first groove 60.

The holder 7 has grooves 7a and 7b arranged in the same direction as the second grooves 6a and 6b of the first revolving means 6. The adjusting screw 10 and the handle shaft 11 are respectively inserted in the second grooves 6a and 6b and in the grooves 7a and 7b of the holder 7, with the flange 10a of the adjusting screw 10 being pressed against one side wall of the first groove 60 of the first revolving member 6, and the flange 110 of the handle shaft 11 being pressed against a recess 6d formed in the other side wall of the first groove 6c by the biasing force of the spring 12, which urges the handle shaft 11 and the adjusting screw 10 in opposite directions.

The bottom of the first revolving member 6 has an arcuate hole 62 through which is fitted a pin 17 projecting from the holder 7 to limit the range of turning of the first revolving member 6. A stopper 18 for the first revolving member 6 is fixed to the holder 7 and a stopper 19 for the second revolving member 8 is fixed to the holder 9.

A coolant nozzle 20 is mounted on the front cover 4 by a support 21. The operation of the apparatus being constructed as described herein according to the principle of this invention is described as follows:

When the adjusting screw in turned in a clockwise direction by turning the handle shaft 11 in the clockwise diection through manipulation of handle 14, the adjusting screw 10 moves axially in the direction for approaching the second revolving member 8 so that the first revolving member 6 also moves in the same direction toward the second revolving member 8 through the action of flange 10a against the one faced plane of groove 60, and thereby the front cover 4 is caused to turn in the clockwise direction around the center of the hinged pin 5, as seen in FIG. 1, through the connection of pin 17 on the cover with the arcuate groove 6e of the first revolving means 6.

On the contrary, when the adjusting screw 10 is turned in the counterclockwise direction through manipulation of the handle 14, the adjusting screw 10 moves axially in a direction to depart from the second revolving member 8 so that the handle shaft 11 is also moved away from the second revolving member 8 through the biasing force of spring 12, and the first revolving member 6 also moves away from the second revolving member 8 through the action of flange 110 against the other faced plane of groove 6c, whereby the front cover 4 is turned in the counterclockwise direction around the center of the hinged pin 5.

Thus, the position of the front cover 4 can be adjusted according to the diameter of the grinding wheel 1 by merely turning the handle 14.

When the grinding wheel 1 is exchanged, the handle shaft 11 is moved against the spring action by the bandle 14, so as to detach the flange 11c of the handle shaft 11 from the recess 6d and the handle shaft 11 and the adjusting screw 10 are turned about the center of the second revolving member 8, so that they are detached from the second grooves 6a and 6b of the first revolving member 6 and the grooves 7a and 7b of the holder 7, and are moved to the position shown in dotted line in FIG. 1. The front cover 4 is turned to the upper right direction as viewed in FIG. 1, and the side cover of the grinding wheel guard is opened to permit the grinding wheel 1 to be exchanged.

As above-mentioned, in accordance with this invention, the first and second revolving members are respectively fitted to the front cover pivotally mounted on the grinding wheel guard and to the grinding wheel guard, and the adjusting screw is provided between the first and second revolving members. The front cover is thus connected to the grinding wheel guard through the adjusting screw, whereby the front cover can be adjusted to the position corresponding to the diameter of the grinding wheel by turning the same by turning the adjusting screw through manipulation of the handle 14 fixed to the adjusting screw.

Accordingly, it is possible to completely prevent such accidents as may be caused by a careless operator forgetting to fix the front cover of the guard wherein injury may esult due to the opening of the front cover by broken pieces projected from the grinding wheel when the grinding wheel is broken, in comparison with the conventional apparatus wherein the front cover must be frictionally clamped to the grinding wheel guard by bolts.

Moreover. this invention is also quite advantageous because the operation of loosening and fixing the bolts by a tool such as a spanner is not required. and also the operation of holding the front cover by hand so as not to permit contact of the front cover with the rotating grinding wheel by the rotary movement of the front cover caused by the dead weight thereof is not required when the position of the front cover is to be adjusted.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Accordingly, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin to the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, comprising:

first revolving means on the front cover being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin:

second revolving means on the grinding wheel guard being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin;

an adjusting screw having a first flange means faced against one of said frist and second revolving means and being connected to the other of said first and second revolving means and to a handle for causing pivotal movement of said front cover about said hinged pin;

said handle including second flange means faced against one of said first and second revolving means, wherein said first and second flange means transmit motion from said screw and said handle to said one of said first and second revolving means for pivoting said cover relative to said guard; and

means for releasing said first and second flange means from said one of said first and second revolving means so that said screw and said handle are pivotable to an out-of-the-way position about said other one of said first and second revolving means and whereby said front cover may also be pivoted about said hinged pin to an out-of-the-way position so as to permit access to said grinding wheel.

2. The apparatus of claim wherein one end of the adjusting screw is screwed to the second revolving means transversely crossing the axis of rotation of said second revolving means, and the other end of the ad justing screw is fitted to the center of a handle shaft of said handle so as to be axially slidable therein.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first revolving means has an arcuate hole which receives a pin projecting from a holder thereof secured to the front cover to limit the range of turning of said first revolving means.

4. An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin to the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, comprising:

6 first revolving means on the front cover being held cover about said hinged pin; and

for relative movement about an axis parallel to the h in a spring is disposed between a handle shaft hinged pin; revolvmg on the grmdmg wheel .guard the two apart, and a pin projects radially from the being held for relative movement about an axis par- 5 and to the hinged pin; ad usting screw and connected to an elongate an adjusting screw having a flange faced against one hole m the handle shflft whereby g l of the of said first nd se d r v lvi means d to a handle shaft 15 transmitted to the ad usting screw. handle for causing pivotal movement of said front of said handle and the adjusting screw for biasing 

1. An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin to the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, comprising: first revolving means on the front cover being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin: second revolving means on the grinding wheel guard being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin; an adjusting screw having a first flange means faced against one of said frist and second revolving means and being connected to the other of said first and second revolving means and to a handle for causing pivotal movement of said front cover about said hinged pin; said handle including second flange means faced against one of said first and second revolving means, wherein said first and second flange means transmit motion from said screw and said handle to said one of said first and second revolving means for pivoting said cover relative to said guard; and means for releasing said first and second flange means from said one of said first and second revolving means so that said screw and said handle are pivotable to an out-of-the-way position about said other one of said first and second revolving means and whereby said front cover may also be pivoted about said hinged pin to an out-of-the-way position so as to permit access to said grinding wheel.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein one end of the adjusting screw is screwed to the second revolving means transversely crossing the axis of rotation of said second revolving means, and the other end of the adjusting screw is fitted to the center of a handle shaft of said handle so as to be axially slidable therein.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first revolving means has an arcuate hole which receives a pin projecting from a holder thereof secured to the front cover to limit the range of turning of said first revolving means.
 4. An apparatus for adjusting the position of a front cover for a grinding wheel guard being pivotally mounted by a hinged pin to the front upper part of the grinding wheel guard, comprising: first revolving means on the front cover being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin; second revolving means on the grinding wheel guard being held for relative movement about an axis parallel to the hinged pin; an adjusting screw having a flange faced against one of said first and second revolving means and to a handle for causing pivotal movement of said front cover about said hinged pin; and wherein a spring is disposed between a handle shaft of said handle and the adjusting screw for biasing the two apart, and a pin projects radially from the adjusting screw and is connected to an elongate hole in the handle shaft whereby rotation of the handle shaft is transmitted to the adjusting screw. 